Tacos using some pre-made pulled pork in a spicy Budweiser barbecue sauce (Aldi-- not bad, but not standout. However an easy remedy for dinner on a lazy night). Homemade slaw, grilled corn tortilla, cilantro, and rice and beans.
Drinks outside. Stoli rocks for me, Budweiser for BF. One of these days I’ll do a Beefeater Rocks for @BeefeaterRocks but I don’t know if I can do straight gin like that!
You can do it. You’ll be amazed at how good it tastes. Swirl the ice cubes around and around so that it is icy cold.
What is “Cowboy Caviar” ?
That depends on who you ask. Some will say black-eyed peas and a vinaigrette. Others will say a sort of salsa of black beans and corn and onion and whatever else is handy. Here is one example I like https://www.spendwithpennies.com/cowboy-caviar/ .
The story that rings true to me is that it dates back to the American West for something other than meat to make from ingredients that would survive for a while in a “chuck wagon,” the mobile horse drawn kitchen. Apparently the name didn’t come along until the 1940s in Texas.
Our friend invited us over for another outstanding dinner with some fabulous wines. There were other guests over so I couldn’t really write down all of the preparations. Basically we enjoyed short ribs with fried okra and a Cajun sauce; sautéed peppers and eggs; tomato, basil, and pesto pizza; scallops; tuna; pork dumpling; a waffle shaped tortilla stuffed with smoked salmon and bacon; an excellent truffled cheese; a caesar salad with crispy panko bread crumbs instead of croutons; some excellent desserts, among other things. It was so nice spending time with some fully vaccinated friends in person.
My my … What an amazing feast for the palate ! and looks like an exceptional wine selection too.
Have a wonderful August and all our best wishes from the Madrid Captial.
Thank you @Barca ! The food, wine, and company were all outstanding.
I see that you have been enjoying some exceptional meals as well, with some gorgeous scenery.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Ha Ha …
We are enjoying Madrid … and the retail therapy !!
Thank you for your wonderful note …
Who isn’t?
“The older you get, the faster time flies.”
This reminded me the verse by Omar Khayyam 
Ah, fill the Cup:—what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet:
Unborn TO-MORROW and dead YESTERDAY,
Why fret about them if TO-DAY be sweet!
You can get Old Bay in Paris?
i totally do, i started going there only about 3 years ago, and went 3 times! i can’t wait to go back, but it’s nowhere in the cards anytime soon… your food looks delicious and assuaging.
Back from the whirlwind bday extravaganza. It was the most fun EVER. One friend drove down from Oregon, and one of my very best friends in the world drove up from L.A. there were 11-13 of us at any one time.
Food was great, although of course I overbought - and some people actually cancelled last minute, which was fine, so we just didn’t end up cooking everything and a lot of it is frozen and will be used for our next trip up there - the annual after-labor-day weekend trip.
there was LOTS of bubbles quaffed all weekend, plus my favorite Spanish vermouth and assorted different cocktails, and a case of an assortment of wines curated by this wonderful wine shop, so we did a red tasting Fri. night and the whites on Saturday. Hangover only bad yesterday morning though! we ended up taking a 5 mile walk on the beach all together Saturday, which was great, and then a much shorter little flashlight-lit hike in the hills above the house last night after dinner.
We went through literally 8-10 baguettes, and there was some challah that got eaten too. and some got made into bread pudding.
i think i elaborated on the menu above already. so i’ll just put short titles under each pic.
Very tired now, but happy I got to spend so much time with the best people in the world.
the conservas - we went through only about half of these (friends brought others directly from Barcelona, too). We ate them with cultured butter on bread.
Our host made tomatoes confit - to die for…
my favorite of the whites - going to pick up a few bottles for myself.
oops! i posted that before i was finished! here’s everything now.
AND - ETA: I just realized that not pictured is the salmon filets I rubbed with a coffee/brown sugar/smoked paprika rub, and the 5 kinds of sausages we grilled! And my Frenchy potato salad with capers! #toomuchbubbly
i am not getting on a scale until next week!
Everything looks and sounds wonderful but Wowza to the mussels. 
Rest up!
That looks great! Very intrigued by the aguacate crema tostadas. And I’ve got some roasted cumin lying around.
YES! Amazon. fr 
In shops, it won’t be easy to find, only when they are doing some temporary special country theme events.
Wish I could have some of that cheese dip right now! Everything looks great.
Oh My F’in G. Everything looks so amazing. Truly a celebratory feast.
Happy Birthday @mariacarmen! 
So great to see people celebrating, eating splendidly and having FUN!
After a beautiful beach day at the Jersey Shore yesterday, today was dark and dismal. Kinda made me long for a hearty homemade pot of Sunday gravy.
Meatballs - sausage - gravy - fried eggplant - fresh ricotta - fresh mozzarella
Made a stuffed eggplant with the ricotta and a side of the rigatoni. A meal always dedicated to my mother and grandmother!! Cheers from an Amerone that receives a solid meh……by me.
Happy end of weekend peeps!!
Mehhhhh
